Mind's Eye
by Aiya Quackform
Summary: Aura asks Helba a question. The same question, over and over. "Why are you hiding from me, Helba" As Helba searches for the answer to this seemingly unfounded question, she is forced to ask whether something is wrong with Aura, or herself. -RECENTLY REWRI


**Commercial:**_ Aura asks Helba a question. The same question, over and over. "Why are you hiding from me, Helba?" As Helba searches for the answer to this seemingly unfounded question, she is forced to ask whether something is wrong with Aura, or herself. (ONE-SHOT)_

**Disclaimers, Warnings, and Props:**

_No, I don't own .hack. I do, however, own the concept of this story. No ripping off, please, although secretly I might find it rather flattering… Just don't, okay?_

_I'd like to thank LilyPichu of PC for being an excellent test reader for this fic. You were a big help, and I owe you one! I would also like to thank xain for his comments, which lead to some minor rewriting of Mind's Eye._

**Mind's Eye**

By Aiya Quackform

A fragmented monster with a howling expression frozen on its face hung upside down in the air of the Net Slums. Helba the dot hacker stood in front of it, her arms crossed. "An odd thing, aren't you?" she said under her breath. The Net Slums were empty, as they increasingly were. Her only company was odd bits of data and program fragments that hung in the air, specters of creatures and programs long since gone.

As time went by in The World, the cases of severe problems in the game were few and far between. The few exciting things that did arise were generally directly related to Aura, and the goddess of The World left little of interest behind for Helba to pick up and horde within her domain. But, patient as always, she continued to wait for the day when she could understand The World's true final mystery—Aura.

"Helba, why do you hide from me?"

Helba frowned, though the gesture went unseen behind her golden mask. "What?" she said to the unseen speaker.

"Helba, why do you hide from me?"

Her frown deepened. There was no one else present in the Net Slums, but that voice… "Aura?" she whispered.

"Helba, why do you hide from me?"

The woman's red lips twitched. Aura was speaking to her? Why? She hadn't had contact with Aura in years. "What do you mean? I don't hide from you."

"Helba, you have been hiding from me for so long. Why?"

The woman's digital image looked down for a moment, thinking. "Are you asking why we haven't had any contact? Aura, you're not easy to get a hold of. But you could always contact me, as you are now."

"Helba, why do you hide from me?"

Annoyance quickly washed over Helba, but she grimly reminded herself that all things concerning Aura could lead to dangerous complications. "Aura, your communications program is oddly lacking. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Helba, everyone else in The World I can see. I never see you anymore."

Her back straightened suddenly. "Do you mean… that I don't spend much time in The World anymore? I suppose I do spend most of my time in the Slums." There was no response from the unseen Aura. Helba took this as a good sign. "Very well, Aura, I will go visit The World."

Helba strode down the streets of Mac Anu, watching all the other players walk around, chat with friends, purchase supplies, and form parties. The avatar of an ordinary wavemaster had replaced her typically unique appearance, but her tall femme fatale persona had not been lost in the change. It had been awhile since she had just visited The World with no particular objective; the many moderators and administrators made casual travel a hazardous venture for her.

After an enjoyable stroll through the intricately designed starter town, Helba made her way out to the grassy, secluded hills around Mac Anu. The number of other players quickly diminished, and soon she sat down at the base of a hill a reasonable distance from any of the other players. Her wavemaster façade transformed into her typical avatar. "Aura, are you there?" she asked.

With a minor distortion of the graphics in front of Helba, Aura revealed herself in her angelic splendor. "I'm here, Helba," she said. An unusually sad look was locked in her azure eyes.

"Aura, is something wrong?" Helba stood up, and put her hand on the other's shoulder.

"Helba," she said and paused. "You're still hiding from me. Why do you hide from me, Helba?"

Helba's hand slipped off her shoulder. "Aura, what are you talking about? I'm right here, I'm in The World."

"Yes," Aura replied. "But I can't see you, Helba."

"Aura, is something wrong? Is that why you contacted me?"

"No, Helba," Aura's large eyes intensified and she grabbed Helba by the shoulders. "There's something wrong with you! You've been hiding! For so long now… I miss you."

The frustration Helba had been concealing was forcing its way to the surface. "Aura, I don't understand!" she exclaimed.

"But I've been telling you all along!" Aura said. "You're hiding. Why?"

"I don't understand, Aura!" Helba said, her voice quivering with exasperation. "You keep saying the same thing over, and over, and over again! I'm right here, what's wrong?"

Aura's eyes began to tear up. "Everyone in the world shows themselves to me. I see them, as no one else sees them. I see their core, Helba. I used to see you all the time, in this World. But even though you are here, I cannot see you."

The alarm building up in Helba abruptly subsided. First there was the dot hack incident, and then there was Aura's child. They were about Aura's contact with the players, her desire to know them, her desire to understand them. To see them as they truly are, underneath the avatars—that was Aura's desire.

"I've been hiding," Helba whispered. She touched the mask covering her eyes. "In the slums, behind this mask of a hacker. I haven't actually played the game of The World in so long, I forgot what it was like to learn about The World from the inside…"

Aura's teary eyes became vibrant. "Yes! You've been hiding! Won't you please come out now?"

Helba looked up into the eyes of the child. "Aura, I do miss playing in The World. But few players would play with a hacker such as myself."

"Well," Aura looked down for a moment. "Do you have to be a hacker?"

Helba smiled. Her pale hands touched the sides of her mask and gently pulled it away, revealing deep green eyes of sparkling intensity. "Not all the time."

Aura laughed in delight. "It's good to see you again, Helba," she said.

"You too," she replied.

* * *

_Author's Notes: My first .hack fic! WooHoo! I am **so** proud of myself. But don't let my totally happy attitude get to you; I **live** for constructive criticism. I'd greatly appreciate a review. If you don't have the time to leave me a long review, just a comment or two would be wonderful, too! But if you dare leave without giving me some sort of feedback… I'll send my dumbbell monster after you! MWAHAHAHA!_

_Heh, all jokes/threats aside, I'd really like to know in particular what you thought of my portrayals of Aura and Helba. Did I keep them in character? It seriously bugs me when fics take these perfectly wonderful characters and make them totally OOC. So, please let me know what you think of them!_

_Oh, and if you like Pokemon fics, you might like to check my profile and look at some of my Pokemon fics. _


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